Anyone starting IVF soon? Join me (3)

[purplemeggie]

Ha! I was just about to post the last message in the old thread linking to this, but I'm too late, we've already filled it up! I'll do the same as last time and send PMs to everyone who's been on the thread recently, but everyone's welcome

Just back from LAST SCAN!!! Update is that I've gone from about 15 follies on each ovary to about 25 now.... Sizes range from 12 - 21mm so I'm definitely ready. However I'm now really scared of OHSS. (I'm not sure how many times I've said that!!!) I've been given a prescription ready to get only if they tell me to this afternoon which will I'll only take after EC anyway. And I've got 2 different types of trigger - again they'll tell me which one to take this afternoon. I just wish it wasn't the weekend. I feel like if it was earlier in the week then I wouldn't have to sit around waiting for nearly 3 more days. They've only ever mentioned a Monday EC but have always said previously that weekends are fine for EC and ET...

I feel bad for feeling a bit weird about it all. On one hand, I'm absolutely thrilled about the lot I've got - from reading these posts I'm sure that others are drooling over that figure. But it's tainted a bit with the fear of OHSS. But then maybe with my PCO, my body's used to handling higher E2 levels ? I haven't read enough about it! They just keep asking how I'm feeling and about any diarrhaea - I guess that's a tell-tale sign.

I must admit I don't feel too bad today - i drank about 5 litres yesterday so I reckon that's clearly helped. I'm going high protein too as have heard that's good. 2 boiled eggs for brekkie and DH is going to cook steak tonight - yum!!!

Anyone else had OHSS experience and good ways to combat it ??

Non - wow what an experience you've had!!! Once those embies are nicely bedded in I'm sure you'll somehow be able to have a giggle about the puking incidents! AMAZING sperm count too - that'll be great to do it via IVF too. Were you booked in for ICSI originally?

Blue hope you're ok too and getting prepped for ET next week!

Hi to everyone else too that's checking in and watching

Hi all - no news is good news from my clinic so I'm booked in for egg transfer on Monday (day 5) at 11.30am. They'll check the embryos on Sat morning and get me in for a day 3 transfer if things aren't progressing too well. Fingers crossed - I hate all this waiting and phone tennis! Oh well. Ignorance is definitely bliss, I'm sure I'd be freaking out even more if I knew the daily movements of each and every embryo.

In the meantime I'm waiting for my old friend constipation to arrive...I've started on 2 x cyclogest and 1 x Lubion injection per day (injectable progesterone), clexane, prednisolone and the baby aspirin. Stomach is bloated, my body hates progesterone. I need to stock up on Fybogel!

Shellster - not long to go now. Hang in there, you are a trooper. I know how you feel about not POASing, I feel exactly the same way.

Well done to you both Non and Heli, sounds like you're both on track for a good haul. I'm a little jealous I must say! Oh well, I'm just pleased my dusty old ovaries managed to do their job this time around.

Choc good to hear from you again. Sounds like you've got a big decision to make. Personally I'm in the 'donor egg' camp...that's where we'll be going if this cycle doesn't work out. I guess you just need to figure out when to draw the line, for us it has definitely been this cycle (our 5th!!). Everyone is different though, I wish you the best of luck. Purple should be a good source of info about the CZ options. I think an overseas clinic is a great idea - cheaper (hopefully), quicker and more professional.

Darkchoc it's hard to keep up when the thread is moving so fast! Good to see you pop in. Some tough decisions ahead for you but I'd say go with your gut instinct (if you trust it). Let us know what you decide.

Heli My goodness you are a follicle making machine, can completely understand you fear of OHSS and it seems you're clued up with what to look for. It's out first and only NHS funded ivf/icsi round so only single embryo transfer. We never knew if was going to be ivf until we knew how many eggs we had or what the sperm was like on the day.

Blue You've got an impressive fertilised rate so day 5 transfer sounds very promising. I'm glad I'm not been rang everyday with updates too as I think I would obsess about it even more. Going to try and fill my time with distraction until the next phone call.

So I'm booked in for EC on Monday morning. And the crazy news is that my e2 level has rocketed to 28000 No more gonal-f for me and I have to take a different trigger injection called buserelin which should help with the ohss apparently and some extr tablets called cabergoline. The clinic are obviously fine with this as I asked them if there was any chance they'd cancel it and she said if they did then it would've been cancelled today so they must have encountered this before!! Nurse said I might still get OHSS but they're doing all they can to minimise it.

I must admit that today I feel physically really good - a bit bloated still and a bit tender but much more energy and focus today! I just need to get some PMA back in me for excitement rather than fear !!!

Has anyone else here had such high e2 levels before ?

I'm listening with intent to both non and blue for updates ready for next week and hoping you can both get good embie news for ET !! gosh blue you could be used as a rattle at this rate with everything you're popping! I reckon if everyone on hear got together for a communal injection, pill swallowing, pessary upping I'm sure it'd be as if we were in a good old 90's rave

Waves to all and nice to see people popping back in to get some support and chat

Congrats Non on all 7 viable eggs fertilising! When will you next get an update? My clinic checked the embryos once a day.

choc, that sounds like a tough decision that only you can make. Hard enough call deciding to move away from own eggs, and then also having to move to anonymous donor too. Yes, I too think those AMH and FSH figures could be far worse. My AMH was 2.5 at 34! But an IVF Dr said that better to be younger with low AMH than older with higher AMH (although that was years ago before I turned 38!). And the statistics do seem to back this up with IVF success declining with age rather than based on AMH/FSH levels.

Heli, afraid I can't help with OHSS or high E2 levels as I have the opposite issue of trying to get enough follicles to respond! Someone else on here said that OHSS is more likely AFTER you've taken the trigger, so make sure you keep up that water even after EC.

blue, I'm going to have to look up half of those medications you're on! What a concoction. I've added E2 to the normal progesterone for the first time this luteal phase. Based on your history, I'm assuming you'll make it to day 5 transfer... then I can imagine that the second two weeks must be the hardest for you since that is where things always go wrong in the past for you. For me, I dread the first two weeks and wait to see where the wheels will fall of before I make it to transfer, so the second two haven't been so bad...

... until yesterday! I don't want to tell people if/when I'm pregnant because I've got excited with IVF too many times in the past and things have gone wrong so even if I get a BFP on Monday, it just feels like I'm waiting for when it will go wrong again. Tried to think in my mind how to summarise to others why I haven't told them which made me recap in my mind all I've been through. I then burst into tears at all I've been through, knowing it's all culminating with this outcome because this is the end of the road for me. It then felt like a symbolic time to move forward to next phase and face the outcome. So I POAS since I was 14 DPO and cat got +ive at 13 DPO. Well, big mistake. It was as negative as can be no matter how hard I stared through a magnifying glass. I was so devastated. Ate half a tub of ice cream, got a massive headache and went to bed in tears.

Feeling better this morning. My period / mc showed up today after last transfer about 9pm so if I get through today without any blood, then I just have to get through Sunday and Monday is OTD. Actually, just remembered that I had hot and cold sweats before last period which I haven't had so far, so hopefully that's a good sign that my period isn't going to show up this time. Hope, hope hope...

Heli I can't help with e2 levels either - my clinic doesn't measure e2. You'll be ok, keep chugging the water.

Shellster, stay focused....you're almost there! Whatever the outcome may be, you can figure out how to deal with it on Monday. No point in tying yourself up in knots about it now. Take each day (hour?) as it comes - no AF is a good sign.

Well the clinic hasn't called and it's almost 10.30am, so I'm cautiously thinking that I'm in the clear for a day 5 transfer on Monday. Shellster you are quite right, it's the 2ww where I turn into a quivering wreck. Hopefully I can take some of my own 'take each day as it comes' advice if/when I get that far.

Hi to everyone else x

Shellster it sounds like you've had a stressful couple of days despite your serene outlook on here. It's so difficult not to analyse every single sensation isn't it? Fingers still crossed for no AF.

Blue I'm hoping no news is good news and that you're on for day 5. That sounds so positive.

Heli, yes just keep on with the water, hopefully you'll be fine. I think I was more nervous about EC than ET....

Not long to go shellster I still have everything crossed for you!

helibeli I had to have buserilin trigger due to multiple follicles, I had 16 eggs collected back in April but the clinic said we had to freeze all due to ohss risk (I have pcos). It took me a while to feel well again after the cycle but I'm ready for fet in August now! Good luck with your ec, I felt so much better after mine as the bloating went down a lot. I had cetrotide for a few days after to shut down my ovaries and also a blood thinner for the first three days (was meant to be five but I got my bleed quite soon after)

In regards to my fet I don't know if they will thaw all three, I didn't realise they could re freeze them either??

Erm, I don't actually know if they can re-freeze either waiting - I just assumed that! Perhaps they just defrost one and if it doesn't survive the thaw, it doesn't take long to prepare a second for transfer. I don't make many eggs so never had any to freeze and will be interested to see how the process goes for you.

That's so true blue. I am so good at dishing out logical advice to others on here. When others on here get in a panic about not enough follicles, I truly believe it when I repeat the study I read showing that it's the first few follicles that are most genetically viable. But when I don't produce many myself, I turn into a ranting raving mess. I liked your mindfulness advice to purple during her 2ww to accept this moment for what it is. Hopefully you can remember that during your 2ww.

Yes cat, still no AF. Today is day 15 after egg collection, so in a natural cycle, it's official the first day of my missed period. My cycles are usually shorter and even in previous IVF cycles with the addition of progesterone, my period always arrives about 10 days after EC. So it is a positive sign. But I got my hopes up last time when my period was late and then had an early miscarriage. So I think even if I get a BFP on Monday, I will still be telling myself not to get my hopes up as I wait for the wheels to fall of again!

Good stuffu, Shellster - I'm remaining cautiously hopeful for you x

Waiting - I don't think they can re-freeze. When I had several frosties, was told that they thawed them one at a time - they only take an hour or so to thaw, so they can do one, see if it's okay, do the next etc., Depends a little on the clinic, as some freeze them in batches, so you can only thaw the whole batch (seems a bit crazy to me, but nobody asked me ). That was one of my questions when choosing clinics: do you freeze by vitrification and do you freeze in batches? Hope that helps.

Morning everyone!

Still see that you're holding on day 15 Shell, hope your next 24 hrs goes quickly to Monday morning.

Just spoke to my embryologist. They changed the medium the embryos are in and observed the growth this morning. Of the 7 fertilised embryos, 6 have made it to day 3 with 6-8 cells which they would expect at this stage. One embryo was just at 2 cell stage so won't be going any further. Single blastocyst transfer booked in for Tuesday at midday. They will grade them then and pick the best one hopefully to go back in and if we're lucky, some to maybe freeze.

Are you all set for transfer tomorrow blue?

Non 6 doing well at day 3 is eggsellent progress . Hoping they keep dividing cleanly all the way to Tuesday.

Shellster no AF is very encouraging. Really hope you can hold it together for the remaining hours (well, hopefully you're managing to sleep right now). What time do you get your blood test results back? I will check in again later and in morning time here, though if it's positive you might not want to tell us...... .

Blue I'm guessing you're on track for ET in the morning so I hope it all goes well.

I'm 32 rows up the blanket, and the lace pattern is now clear. Loving it. Can't decide whether to take it on holiday with me or to take something a little more manageable. What a lovely dilemma to have .

Shellster I have everything crossed for you... you must be a nervous wreck today. I really do hope you get your BFP, you truly deserve it. We're all rooting for you.

I'm booked in for ET transfer tomorrow at 11.30, hopefully there will be 2 good ones ready and waiting. I will keep you posted. Non, sounds like yours are doing well, that's great news.

My word, this is anxious times sitting back and reading these posts. I'm on a break as they say until next August round so I'm eagerly following everyone's progress. Think I need a cava to steady my nerves.

Cat I love your dilemma; you have your growing bump, hubby, and possibly knitting to take on holiday. Lovely and simple. Not sure of the destination but do enjoy. Could do with another holiday myself.

Shellster good news your AF has stayed away. Not long to go now until testing and well done for staying clear away from those sticks. Your resolve is so much greater than mine. Really hoping you get a BFP tomorrow.

Blue you sound as though you've produced a great crop of embryos and this time tomorrow I'm sure 2 little ones will be back where they belong and burrowing in. I wasn't aware that this is your fifth go...anyway, you are now five steps closer to a positive result.

Non congrats on getting 6 embryos to day 3. I'm sure day 5 will soon be here for you. Getting some in the freezer is something I've aspired to both times and but didn't manage. But I think you are younger than me so your chances will be better. Must make things easier with some on ice.

Waiting interesting question and I think Purple has answered...I'm clueless on this point, sorry.

Purple are you all ready for your next cycle?

Helibeli good luck for EC tomorrow morning.

Not sure what I'm doing yet - spent the last couple of days gardening, hoping to find inspiration in the outdoors but kept think about seeds and propagation. Seriously, I'm now comparing my reproductive state to that of garden plants and wish I could emulate their simplistic success rate. Not sure why but the thought of going overseas scares me, it didn't at first, but now I've got the jitters. Think it comes down trying to arrange scans etc in the UK to reduce time overseas and stepping into the unknown.

Choc I've spent a lot of time in the garden this year, growing seeds, propagating from cuttings and have agonised as much over successful/unsuccessful seedlings as I have over my own fertility. You just can't get your brain to switch off from it can you? Good luck with all your choices.

As everyone else says Non, 6 out of 7 at day 3 is fantastic.

So you're getting two transferred too blue. This is the first time you're doing that from memory?

choc, I too have watched my vegie seeds grow successfully and wished I could have as much success with my own. I can imagine it feeling like a big step going overseas, and a bit more scary when doing it alone. We are here to support in any way we can.

Enjoy your holiday cat! Where are you going.

I should get a call by 4.30pm today - which is 5.30am your time. So you should all wake up Monday to my result. I'm so nervous. Knowing that this is my last and I have to accept scares the jeebers out of me. Even if it's a positive, I'm just going to feel like it's teasing me, getting my hopes up so I can come crashing down harder when I miscarry, knowing that 2 of 3 eggs are genetically abnormal at 38, knowing blue had two early pregnancies that didn't last and I had the same last transfer.

Thinking of you Shellster.... let us know when you get a chance xx

Thinking of you Shellster and hoping it's good news xxx

Good luck Blue, hope you've got some great blastocysts waiting for you this morning.

Choc - just waiting to coordinate my cycle with my donor, so not sure when I'm off yet...should receive my meds any day though, which will make it feel real.

thinking of you shellster

Sorry to keep you in suspense. I had to take DS to a swimming lesson soon after I got the result and couldn't post. I feel a bit guilty to say it, but I did quietly get a BFP. I thought I would move straight on to be extremely worried about miscarriage, but the nurse said it is strong numbers as they like to see the HCG between 100-400 on day 16 and mine is 390. So that gave me some reassurance. Although I guess you were told you're levels were good blue as your clinic did not give you any indication of your miscarriage with your first cycle? Either way, trying to allow myself to relax. After 4 years of this crap, I want to try to enjoy it. Went to supermarket and it was so nice to progress to the pregnancy pre-natal, instead of heading back to the Co-Q10, DHEA etc dept as I usually do after each failed IVF. Also allowed myself to enjoy looking in the baby clothes aisle which I normally try to avoid as it's too painful. I have to have another blood test in one weeks time and then an ultrasound at 7 weeks.

I thank you so much for all your support. I realise I already have one child and am very lucky if this pregnancy works and enables me to complete my family, while some of you on here are dreaming of just having the one child that I already have so I feel a bit guilty announcing this to you and shall try not to say too much, but would still like to pop in and see how you guys get on.

Any word on the serum from Greece yet purple?

Whoop whoop whoop Shellster. So pleased for you and keeping my fingers crossed even further for a sticky bean. You have been through so much and really deserve it.

We're not going far on holiday - "just" Cornwall, but I'm really looking forward to getting away and relaxing. Feel a little uneasy about stepping away from the fridge though .

Blue hope everything goes well this morning.

I forgot the exclamation mark!

WOW Shellster I am SO PLEASED FOR YOU!!!

Amazing, fantastic, incredible, super news! I am sitting at my desk in London smiling my face off.

After a more than a year of being in touch via this chat thread I feel personally invested in your success/failure. I've been thinking about you all morning and I am just delighted for you.

Enjoy it and try not to stress. I know it's tough but you've made it over a giant hurdle and you should feel really proud of yourself. All your hard work and stubbornness has paid off - just brilliant.

I will go to my ET this morning with renewed hope! I've always had 2 put back in by the way, apart from my first cycle. Here's hoping I have 2 good ones this morning.

MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS SHELLSTER

My grin just keeps getting bigger Shellster